Apple Date Smoothie

Continuing with my smoothie / shake series.... this is a new one. The other day when we were in the market and saw our fruit vendor had some good wet dates. They were cleaned ( though I do still rinse them before using) and packaged in neat 500gm packets. I took a liking to dates from my mother-in-law; she would buy it from the local market and would give us about 4-5 cleaned ones most days. Then later when I started baking I loved the idea of adding dates in cakes not restricting myself to only the date and walnut cake. So, unexpectedly, we bit into a sweet as ever piece of date when eating my pound cake as well :)

 

And now to get back to my smoothie, this is a great smoothie to have for breakfast or even as that mid morning or evening pick me up. Instead of giving into the temptation of a snack or chocolate or even coffee try this smoothie, it will assuage the hunger pangs and sweet cravings. The apple, dates and almonds (how could I leave it out!) blend really well making this a tasty smoothie. As for the benefits, it's numerous, find the benefits for the apple and almonds here. And the dates, it is rich in fiber, iron, calcium, fluorine, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, Vitamin K  and Vitamin B6. It contains simple sugars like fructose and dextrose which replenish the energy and revitalize the body instantly being one of the reasons that it is used to break fasts. Dates promote digestive health and relieves constipation thereby promoting colon health. It is also believed to boost heart health and reduce the risk of stroke due to the presence of magnesium in it. Magnesium is also believed to help in controlling blood pressure and dates have a high content of it. Vitamin B6 is shown to boost brain performance increasing test scores. Dates also contain antioxidants known as Tannins, known to possess anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic properties. But yes, be warned of the high sugar content, it has an unbelievable 66.5gms of sugar per 100gm serving. So watch the amount of intake.

 

Ingredients

Almonds - 8 to 10

Apple - 1

Dates - 4 to 5

Milk - 3/4 cup

Soak the almonds for about 4 to 6 hours. Deseed and chop the dates and soak it in the milk for a couple of hours in the frig. Refrigerate the apple.

Discard the water in which the almonds were soaked and grind it to a fine paste. Then add the dates soaked in milk and again grind it finely. Next chop the apples and add it to the blender. Once finely blended pour it into a glass and it is ready to serve.

For a vegan version, increase the amount of almonds and grind it finely with water to make almond milk. Substitute the milk with the almond milk and a vegan version of the same smoothie is ready.

Blend the apples last just before serving to avoid browning due to oxidization.

P.S. And I forgot to take pics!

 

(Information on benefits sourced from: http://naturalsociety.com/health-benefits-of-dates-7-reasons-eat-date-fruit/ & http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/dates.html)

Almonds and Almond milk

Most of us grew up with our moms feeding us almonds / badaam during are growing years. They were said to be good for our brains and of course as children we needed all the help to tackle loads of school work. Mothers were advised to give their daughters a few almonds from the age of 5, it supposedly helped them during their menstruation years. Almonds are rich in Vitamin E and Folate, as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They are an excellent source of phytosterols, which reduces the level of harmful cholesterol. Traditionally, it is considered the best to eat almonds raw even roasting it kills some of its nutrients. In fact, most times the almonds we get in stores are pasteurized and the processing has already killed some nutrients. But even after that it is still rich in vitamins and minerals. Soaking is considered good since it helps in activating enzymes aiding better digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Adding almonds into the daily diet is very easy - have a handful of soaked almonds in the morning or add them chopped into cereal, smoothie,  or fruit salad or just keep a boxful in the office to munch on sometime during the day. I have found eating them raw as a snack along with some walnuts and raisins helps in keeping hunger at bay. And lately, I have also added natural homemade almond milk to my diet. Almond milk is very easy to make, take a bowl of almonds and soak it for 1 to 2 days. Change the water twice during this time and then grind it well in a grinder. Soaking helps the almonds soften and it gets ground better. Add a little water when grinding. Strain the mix and keep aside. Grind the strained mix with some more water and strain once again. Water can be added according to how thick you want the milk.

Almond milk has a natural sweetness and can be had straight with no additions. Or blend a fruit or 2 in to make a very healthy smoothie. In fact if using the almond milk for a smoothie, don't strain after grinding it. The leftover strained mush can be added to cereal, smoothies, parathas, etc. Almond milk is a great option for the lactose intolerant and vegans.

Smoothie Series - Apple and Pomegranate

For some time now, I have wanted to give smoothies a try. Smoothies are widely known to be healthy but since most health foods don't taste good, I stayed away from it. But growing concerns of health all around prompted me to look up recipes that I would be able to handle. I realized I may not immediately take to smoothies with yogurt or green vegetables. So to start with I did a simple two  fruit smoothie.

Today, when hunger struck in the evening I substituted my favorite sandwich fix with a smoothie made of apple and pomegranate. Both fruits are ones I like and I thought they would combine well too. I did not add any thickening base this time but that is the plan for the next time.
I used Real Fruit Pomegranate Juice in this recipe rather than extract fresh juice. It seemed too tedious especially with pomegranate what with straining the seeds, etc. Health wise it is better to use fresh ingredients which would mean sticking to seasonal fruits and vegetables as much as possible. Again, when making smoothies watch out for the calorie content. It is easy to give in to temptation and add calorie rich ingredients in the smoothie.

 Apple Pomegranate Smoothie

So here goes the recipe:

Apple - 1
Pomegranate Juice - 1.5 cups
Blend the two together and it is ready to pour out in glasses.

Chai tea latte, Chai, Cha, Chaaya, Tea.... my high

Tea is made in so many ways in India and this post is to reminisce on the way chaaya is made in Kerala. I will try some other methods and post them later.

Chaaya

In Kerala Chaaya - that's tea in malayalam, is made a little differently. It is prepared by  adding some strong tea leaves to boiling water and the vessel is covered with a lid. The gas/ heat is shut off at this point without boiling it any further. Heat the milk separately, add sugar and pour in the black tea. Now comes the difference in method. Kerala chaaya making process is complete only after beating the tea! This is done to mix the sugar, tea concoction and milk really well. Also, my mom believes that the taste of milk changes when it is beaten like this. 

For this, take two mugs or glasses and pour from one cup to the other from a height repeatedly to create a frothy top. This could sound crazy when written so check the pictures and you will get an idea. Your tea is ready when the froth is formed at the top of the glass/ cup and the sugar is well mixed in.

Now for the measurements, for a glass of tea of the size shown below, take water - 3/4th glass, milk - 1/4th glass, tea leaves - 1tsp heaped, sugar as per taste. Chaaya is normally strong and hence the color is more brown than milky! 

The method of making chaaya and pulled tea of Malaysia is the same. Pulled tea is also poured from one container to the other to create a layer of froth at the top. It is likely that this method of preparing tea was taken to Malaysia from India by the immigrants when both countries were British colonies. Not sure of the taste though, maybe I will taste it sometime in the future. Cheers :)

 

P.S. I use either Wagh Bakri or Girnar tea, both are strong teas.